Vector-borne diseases in South-East Asia: burdens and key challenges to be addressed.

World Health Day is celebrated on 7 April every year to mark the anniversary of the founding of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1948. Each year a theme is selected that highlights a priority area of public health. It provides an opportunity for individuals in every community to get involved in activities that can lead to better health. World Health Day 2014 focuses on vector-borne disease with the following aims: (a) families living in areas where diseases are transmitted by vectors know how to protect themselves; (b) travellers know how to protect themselves from vectors and vector-borne diseases; (c) in countries where vector-borne diseases are a public-health problem, ministries of health put in place measures to improve the protection of their populations; and (d) in countries where vector-borne diseases are an emerging threat, health authorities work with environmental and other authorities locally and in neighbouring countries to improve integrated surveillance of vectors and to take measures to prevent their proliferation.1